Musicians of the Seoul Philharmonic performed outside Seoul's city hall today in protest of the city's plan to raise the orchestra's profile, the Korea Times reports.

In an effort to turn the Philharmonic into a "world-class symphony," the city has appointed Myung-Whun Chung, Korea's most famous musician, to the post of director and has announced that it would hold auditions for some orchestrapositions. Players say that the auditions are intended to ease out long-time members of the ensemble.

"Cultural policies should be decided by those who work in the actual field, not by government officials," said union leader Kim Eun-jung.

About 70 musicians performed for about a half-hour today, playing excerpts from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.